It’s hot out there, and it’s technically still spring. But the steamy weather hasn’t slowed down the revolving door, which is spinning this week with moves that would make Beyoncé jealous (not really).
There are tons of new hires, with account wins, new office openings and more “newly created roles” thrown in for good measure. So let’s put on our work shoes and walk through this week’s circular door.
180
180 NY has made two new senior hires, tapping Angela Kosniewski to serve as head of accounts and Alex Campbell as head of production. Both Campbell and Kosniewski will report to 180 NY president Evan Weissbrot.
Formerly vice president of new business development at Johnnie Studio, Kosniewski will play a central role in strengthening existing client engagements and building lasting new relationships. She was also founder and CEO of Elle Collective, svp and head of brand management at MullenLowe Group, and Droga5 executive group director.
Campbell joins 180 NY from his previous role as associate director of interactive production at TBWA/Chiat/Day.
In May, 180 NY hired Jason Chebib as the agency’s new head of strategy. Chebib, who most recently served as vice president of consumer planning for Diageo North America, will drive strategic planning for the agency.
Big
Big, a Birmingham-based independent communications agency, has hired Alex Sharkey as director of strategy. Sharkey joins strategy directors Emeka Patrick and David Stutts, brand strategist Ally Clokey, and multicultural strategy lead Manu Gabaldon, in rounding out Big’s full strategy team.
Sharkey joins Big having most recently served as director of brand strategy for Zimmerman Advertising.
BSSP
Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners (BSSP) has hired Robyn Tenenbaum as its new creative director. In the role, Tenenbaum will lead the team working with Blue Shield of California Based in Portland, Tenenbaum will serve on the creative leadership team. Most recently, she served as the associate creative director at R/GA, and before that was an acd at Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
Colle McVoy
After a competitive review, Colle McVoy has been selected as agency of record for the fast-growing equine division of Zoetis, an animal health company. The agency will lead marketing and advertising efforts in the U.S. including strategy, creative, media planning and buying, digital, social media, public relations, event relations and design.
The unconventional review demanded that the final pitch be presented as an Effie Awards-winning case study with full narrative and category information.
Work across the portfolio is expected to launch late this year and will appeal to veterinarians and horse owners.
Creative Engagement Group
The Creative Engagement Group (TCEG) has made three senior appointments across North America. WRG, the events and experiential division of the Creative Engagement Group has appointed David Ratcliffe as head of event solutions, North America. Kristen Erickson is the new principal consultant and vice president of Forty1 the employee engagement division of the group. Nadine Green has taken the newly created role of chief operating officer, North America.
Definition 6
Customer experience agency Definition 6 (D6) has hired Noah Lerner as vp/creative director. Lerner is an Emmy Award-winning director, writer, and producer with more than 25 years of experience in film and television. Most notably, he was at HBO for 20 years, where he created on-air promotional content for legacy titles, including Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm and others.
Most recently, Lerner was a freelance creative director, writer, and producer at CBS All Access (now Paramount+), where he worked on launching the streaming service’s initial foray into the Champions League. Prior to that, he was creative director at Showtime.
Distillery Project
The Distillery Project has hired associate creative director Jig-zed dPa’wo, copywriter Erin Macdonald, and creative director Phil Jungmann for the agency’s Chicago office.
DPa’wo was previously acd at agencies Leo Burnett and VML. Macdonald was most recently content producer at the Highland Group, while Jungmann was previously at Y&R, BBDO and Leo Burnett.
DNA
DNA Seattle is adding to its senior staff with the hire of Danielle DeVera taking on the new role of director of growth. She joins the agency from 72andSunny where she was business development lead, helping the agency land Pinterest, Marriott Bonvoy, Vital Proteins, and other leading brands.
In addition to 72andSunny, DeVera spent five years at Omelet as senior business development manager.
Exverus
Not Your Mother’s, a haircare brand owned by DeMert, has appointed Exverus as its U.S. media agency of record, following a competitive review. Exverus will handle the brand’s paid media duties, including components of digital advertising, search, social, and direct to consumer. Exverus will work closely with the company’s creative agency of record, Humanaut.
Fig
Indie creative agency Fig, has hired its first ever executive creative director, Asan Aslam, who was previously group creative director at Grey. The agency also hired Samantha Deevy, executive director of communications strategy; Kate Berkheimer, executive director of media; Hana Sato Thomas, executive director of talent; Lindsey McNabb Hover, executive director of growth; Andrew Arnot, group account director; and Paul Savaiano and Sean Staley, group strategy directors.
FCB
Juliana Vilhena Nascimento has been named managing director, data and connections, for FCB/SIX, the independent creative data agency that is part of the FCB Network. She will launch the group’s new brand in Brazil.
For the last year and a half, Vilhena Nascimento was COO at FBiz, having joined the agency in 2017 as chief business officer. She also spent time at R/GA, AlmapBBDO, and was previously at FCB.
FG|PG
FG|PG, a woman-owned experience and fabrication agency, has hired industry veteran Phil Koutsis as its first chief creative officer. In the newly created role, Koutsis will oversee all creative and strategy for the agency.
For the past nine months, Koutsis has served as FG|PG’s CCO pro tem. He contributed to key client wins including Kestra Financial, Herbalife Nutrition and Cloudinary. Koutsis previously served as executive creative director of We’re Magnetic. Prior to that, he was svp, group creative director at Momentum Worldwide.
Gut
Independent creative agency Gut has opened its newest office in Mexico City. This is its first office in Central America and fifth in the independent network, which has offices in Buenos Aires, Miami, Sao Paulo and Toronto.
“From day one, the Mexico City office was part of Gut’s plan, so now that it has finally opened, it’s a dream come true,” said co-founders Gaston Bigio and Anselmo Ramos, in a statement.
Both managing director Camila Prado and chief strategy officer Samantha Hernández will lead the team in the Mexico City office. The creative team is made up of creative director Guido Donadio and Sebastián Regiani, and Rodrigo Del Oso and José Mario Muñoz. Diego Antonio Rojas and Diego López Olivia join the team as senior editor and senior art director, respectively.
Hanson Dodge
Hanson Dodge, a Milwaukee-based creative and digital agency, has hired Zack McQuiston as account director. He was most recently innovation director at Energy BBDO in Chicago.
At Hanson Dodge, McQuiston will oversee the agency’s Utah Office of Tourism and Charcuterie Artisans’ business.
Hathway
Digital growth partner Hathway has hired Kimberlee May as avp, people and culture. In the newly created role, May will oversee strategic human resources leadership and guidance for Hathway, including all people management functions.
Havoc Content
Havoc Content has re-launched with a new vision, a new brand, and a new owner in Leslie Harro, who was already an established partner and executive producer at the production and content agency. Director Megan G. Wells has joined the Havoc roster, as has director Shamiel Soni.
Hill Holliday
Hill Holliday was awarded the Egglife Foods business this week after a multi-agency review process. Egglife Foods is a food company that uses cage-free eggs instead of flour to reimagine carb-heavy foods. The Boston-based agency will be tasked with building Egglife’s brand story, and developing an integrated campaign to support the brand’s national expansion goals. The full scope of the work includes, strategic planning and creative leadership, including digital, social and traditional channels.
“We are thrilled to work with Egglife Foods, an exciting brand and a trailblazer in a new category, ” said Chris Wallrapp, president, Hill Holliday, in a statement. “To be trusted by a smart and passionate group of people with an amazing product is a real honor. We can’t wait to help them make their mark on the world.”
LRXD
Denver agency LRXD has promoted Ashley Rutstein and Kelsey Steffes to creative directors. Rutstein has been with LRXD for over five years and an acd for three years. Steffes has been at LRXD over three years and has been an acd for over two years.
Maverick Group
The Maverick Group has hired Neame Ingram as creative director. Ingram started his career at CDP, then joined Mustoes, Publicis Chemistry before coming to Maverick.
McGarrah Jessee
Independent brand shop McGarrah Jessee (McJ) has been named strategic partner for Jacuzzi Group. McJ will be charged with branding and creative expression services.
MullenLowe
MullenLowe Los Angeles has made several key hires, including Dave Estrada, who serves as creative director on the Corona Masterbrand account. He recently joined the agency from Apple. During Estrada’s creative career, he worked at agencies including 72andSunny, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Goodby Silverstein + Partners.
MullenLowe LA’s newest associate creative directors, Horacio Sormani and Bruno Franchino, joined from The Community Miami. The duo became a creative team in Buenos Aires at FCB nearly 10 years ago.
The L.A. office also recruited art director Caleb Nyberg and copywriter Peter Watson, who joined from David & Goliath. The design group at the agency added senior talent, including Fazel Sayeh, who joins from Wieden + Kennedy Portland, Rui Ma, formerly at Sid Lee and Google, and Sunny Li, who was previously at Google.
National CineMedia
Cinema advertising network National CineMedia announced that president Clifford (Cliff) E. Marks is retiring as of July 1, 2021. Scott Felenstein, NCM’s current executive vice president and chief revenue officer, has been promoted to president, sales, marketing and partnerships. Mike Rosen, NCM’s senior vice president of East Coast sales, has been promoted to executive vice president and chief revenue officer.
Noom
Noom, a digital health platform focused on behavior change, appointed Firdaus Bhathena, general manager of healthcare. In this newly-created role, Bhathena will lead a team focused on developing Noom’s healthcare channel and condition expansion. Bhathena joins Noom from CVS Health and Aetna, where he was chief digital officer.
Noom also hired Sean Foster as chief marketing officer and Angela Crossman as head of people.
Public Label
Ryan Macor has been named vp business development for Public Label Canada, a creative marketing agency, and Match Retail, a sales, merchandising and branded retail agency. The two agencies formerly made up Match Marketing Group and relaunched in December into separate agencies.
In his new role, Macor will be responsible for leading growth initiatives for the two agencies. His primary focus will be representing both agencies in Canada and unlocking new opportunities across the Canadian market, with a future goal of expanding Match Retail’s reach into the U.S. Previously, Macor was at Toronto-based Influence Marketing where he was director of experiential and digital marketing.
Quad
Quad/Graphics Inc. has appointed Josh Golden as chief marketing officer. Golden most recently served as president and publisher of Ad Age.
SSR
Strategy and design practice Syndicate Sub Rosa (SSR) will serve as the marketing and advertising agency of record for retailer Muji to drive awareness, traffic, and sales throughout North America. The assignment includes market research, brand positioning, omnichannel marketing strategy and creative campaigns.
SSR expects to launch its first campaign with the brand in early Fall 2021. Muji is now engaged with two agencies from the MTM global specialist network. Camron has been Muji’s strategic communications agency for over five years.
TracyLocke
Commerce and communications agency TracyLocke has appointed Tina Manikas as its new U.S. president. Manikas will focus on driving agency growth, leveraging her over 20 years of multi-category experience.
Prior to joining TracyLocke, Manikas founded and led FCB/RED, a retail and commerce agency, where she oversaw efforts worldwide.
UTA
Veteran advertising executive Mike Densmore has joined UTA Marketing, the brand consulting division of leading global talent, entertainment and sports company UTA. He will be based in New York and will serve as head of growth and innovation. In the newly created role, Densmore will be responsible for spearheading the agency’s new business efforts with brand clients globally and expanding relationships within the broader advertising industry.
Densmore most recently served as the CEO of Forsman & Bodenfors, where he launched new partnerships with brands including Hyatt, Diageo, YouTube Music and Saucony. Previously, he served as the global chief growth officer at BBH. He has also held senior positions at Droga5, Modernista! and Wieden+Kennedy, where he ran the North American Nike business.